In a conventional refrigerant cycle, a compressor compresses a refrigerant and delivers the compressed refrigerant to a downstream condenser. From the condenser, the refrigerant passes through an expansion device, and subsequently, to an indoor. The refrigerant from the indoor is returned to the compressor. In a split system heating and/or cooling system, the condenser may be known as an outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor as an indoor heat exchanger, when the system operates in a cooling mode. In a heating mode, their functions are reversed.
In the split system, the indoor may be part of a fan coil assembly. A typical fan coil assembly includes an indoor coil (e.g., a coil shaped like a “V”, which is referred to as a “V-coil”) and a condensate drain pan disposed within a casing. A V-coil may be referred to as a “multi-poise” coil because it may be oriented either horizontally or vertically in the casing of the fan coil assembly.
During a cooling mode operation, a blower circulates air through the casing of the fan coil assembly, where the air cools as it passes over the indoor coil. The blower then circulates the air to a space to be cooled. Depending on the particular application, a fan coil assembly including a vertically oriented V-coil may be an upflow arrangement.
Typically, a refrigerant is enclosed in piping that is used to form the indoor coil. If the temperature of the indoor coil surface is lower than the dew point of air passing over it, the indoor coil removes moisture from the air. Specifically, as air passes over the indoor coil, water vapor condenses on the indoor coil. The condensate drain pan of the indoor assembly collects the condensed water as it drips off of the indoor coil, or runs along the surface of the indoor coil. The collected condensation then typically drains out of the condensate drain pan through at least one of two drain holes in the condensate drain pan. Typically, the drain holes are oriented in a substantially vertical orientation to accommodate the primary drainage and an overflow drainage. The substantially vertical orientation increases the overall size of the condensate drain pan; thus, this orientation may increase the size and cost of the fan coil assembly. There is, therefore, a need for a smaller sized condensate drain pan.